Two leading U.S. medical societies are poised in the coming weeks to issue new diabetes treatment guidelines reflecting the lifesaving cardiovascular effects of Eli Lilly's Jardiance in a move expected to drive up the drug's sales. The forthcoming guidelines from the American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists follow last Friday's decision by U.S. regulators to expand the health benefits Lilly can claim for Jardiance to include preventing fatal heart attacks and strokes in type 2 diabetes patients.

Shares of Biogen jumped Thursday afternoon when word leaked that its experimental Alzheimer’s drug, aducanumab, had performed well in an early-stage trial. By the time markets opened Friday morning, investor sentiment was clear: Biogen's aducanumab remains a frontrunner to become the first drug in the world to treat the underlying cause of Alzheimer’s, the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. As of 1 p.m., shares of Biogen (BIIB) were trading at $295.78, an increase of two percent that adds about $2 billion to the company’s market cap.